


Ground Rules

by Born2read



Category: Life with Derek
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:26:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22363321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Born2read/pseuds/Born2read
Summary: Casey lays out the ground rules for when they go to Queens, oddly enough Derek follows them. Why, then, is Casey so pissed at him?
Relationships: Casey McDonald/Derek Venturi
Comments: 27
Kudos: 153





	1. Chapter 1

Derek knows Casey the best. He would wager that he knows her even better than her mother. Derek has seen the best in Casey, the side that she puts forward and wants everyone else to see. The perfectionist. However, he has also seen Real!Casey, the one with stray hairs, no makeup, the Casey who cries, wears sweatpants and wrestles with him for the remote. Derek doesn't have a favorite version because they are sworn enemies, but if he had to pick, the second version of Casey would be his favorite.

It never made much sense to Derek why all the guys she dated had trouble figuring her out. Derek _knew_ her. If he could figure it out, they should be able to. Granted, Derek learned to understand the way her mind worked so that he could prank her more effectively.

That said, Derek doesn't always _get_ Casey. Sometimes she does or says something, and he can't quite figure out where her thoughts lay, or which mental process leads her to where she ends up.

The perfect example is on their way to University. It is the first semester, and they're in the car. Derek is driving with Casey beside him, going through a list of all the things that Derek is Not Allowed to Do.

"... and if we wind up having a class together, sit as far away from me as possible."

"Casey," Derek says, exasperated, "I know you. You're going to be in the middle of the front row. What makes you think I'd try and sit with you?"

She is primly perched in the passenger seat of the Prince, checking off rules in her notebook. "Because," she states matter-of-factly. "You'll likely see it as an opportunity to get through a class without having to do the work, and you live to annoy me. Naturally, you'll sit by me so you can ask for my notes and try to distract me."

Derek snorts. "I can ask you for notes after class. I'll sit well away from you. Scout's honor." It doesn't sting, not even a little bit that she's so insistent that they stay far away from one another at Queen's. After all that he went through to find out which school she was picking.

"Which brings me to rule fifteen subsection A: if we do have a class together, you may not ask to borrow my notes unless you were absent due to illness." She considers that and sniffs, "and even then."

"Casey," his tone is a little sharper than he intends, but the last thirty minutes have been a dissertation on staying one hundred yards away from her, not that he's offended or anything. "I get it. Leave you alone; the same applies to you. If you feel that strongly about it, e-mail me your list of rules, and I'll do the same." It was unlikely that Derek would ever bother to write up a list of rules, but he might be persuaded to do it if only to annoy Casey. Sending her a list of things she's not allowed to do is a surefire way to manage that. "You don't want me around. You've made your point. Can we not spend the rest of the drive going over this?"

She starts to say something, and his hands tighten on the steering wheel. If she finds another way to reiterate avoiding each other, Derek might lose it. Neither of them will make it to school because they'll have died in a tragic car accident.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

Casey nods, and they spend the rest of the drive arguing over the radio. The knot that had started in the pit of his stomach at Rule Number One starts to loosen.

* * *

The first time he sees Casey after they've moved into their respective dorms is the weekend after orientation, right before they're supposed to start classes. She's walking arm in arm with a girl, and they're rooted in conversation. He stops for a moment, trying to figure out his next course of action.

Some point after Casey and the rest of the McDonalds move in, a large part of Derek's actions are motivated by being the antithesis of Casey's desires or simply designed to annoy her, but that was when he thought that Casey might enjoy the way they're frequently at odds. The fact that she so desperately wanted a start without him had hit home on that drive.

Not that he's in pain over it or anything. That knot in his stomach? It was the meatloaf he had for dinner in the dining hall last night.

So he's standing there thinking of whether he should go and annoy her or simply move on when she looks up at him. Their eyes meet. Casey gives him a small smile, but there's a look in her eyes. He can't quite place what it is, but he thinks it might be panic.

He keeps walking, not even acknowledging that they had locked eyes. The meatloaf in his stomach twists a little tighter.

* * *

They do end up having a class together. It's an English class, of course, and one of the smaller ones. There were ten students in total and only twelve desks. It's no surprise that Casey is sitting at the front. When Derek walks in, seconds before class starts, their eyes meet.

There's a seat available in the front next to Casey, and there's one available further down the row next to a preppy looking blonde.

Derek is annoyed at the momentary hesitation he feels before heading to the second option. It's not that he wants to sit next to Casey - of course he doesn't - but she had a point about getting notes from her. He slides into the seat and the blonde smiles at him. When Derek glances at Casey, she's staring straight ahead with her fingers gripped tightly around her pen.

The whole seat situation turns out to be pointless because, after attendance, their professor has them rearrange their desks into a circle. Derek winds up next to Casey anyway.

He's acutely aware that Casey is angry (and very likely at him), but this time, he can't figure out why. This time, he doesn't get it; Derek doesn't get _her_. It's an unusual feeling.

* * *

"You're following her rules?" Edwin asks in surprise. Derek didn't mean to bring it up, but he was on his weekly call with Edwin (yeah, he keeps up with the kid-what of it?), and Casey was in the dining hall sitting alone. She had spotted him, and he, her.

She straightened a little as he had neared her table, and he thinks maybe she'd snap at him for even thinking of sitting with her (because all this talk about how Derek knows Casey; well, _she_ knows _him_ ; it's not easy to pass up an opportunity to Casey-bait). Derek tore his gaze away and breezed right by. She's been staring daggers at him ever since.

Edwin happened to call, and the whole thing came pouring out.

"Yeah," Derek says, shoveling mashed potatoes in his mouth. No meatloaf this time; he had learned his lesson.

There's a long pause on the other line before Edwin asks, "Why?"

"You seem shocked."

"I _am_ shocked. Baffled. Flabbergasted. Pick a synonym, and that's me right now."

Derek huffs, sipping his water and turning a bit so he can't see Casey out of the corner of his eye. "It's not a big deal." If Edwin thinks it's a big deal, he might take it one step further, and then... "I don't want to deal with her either, so it works out."

"Uh-huh." Derek notices the doubt in Edwin's tone. The distance has made Edwin brave. "It's just that getting on Casey's nerves is one of your favorite pastimes. I would have thought that her law-making would annoy you enough to want to break all those rules."

Edwin is right, of course, but there is more at work here. It has nothing to do with Casey's fierce insistence on wanting nothing to do with Derek. Something else, and he'd share what it was but, frankly, it's nobody's business. "I've grown," Derek says dryly.

"Sure," Edwin snorts. Derek makes a mental note to remind him of who the older brother is on his next visit home. "I'm surprised she thought it would work," Edwin continues, only willing to toe the line rather than cross it.

"So am I," Derek admits.

"So. If you're following Casey's rules, why is she mad?"

"That is the mystery." Derek sighs, stabbing his pot roast. "I don't pretend to understand the way her crazy brain works."

"Well, if you can't figure it out, I'm not sure anyone can."

"Maybe I broke a rule. Unintentionally, because I can't think of one that I might have broken, but..." He shrugs, even if Edwin can't see it. "It's the best explanation I've got."

"I can see what Lizzie says?"

Derek smiles, mentally crossing off the lesson-teaching from his to-do list. Edwin isn't so bad. Finished with his food, Derek stands to dump his plate on the conveyor. He catches Casey's eyes again. She narrows her brows. "Yeah. Let me know what you find out."

* * *

Lizzie isn't much help. According to Edwin, the only thing she can get from Casey is that she's confused as to why Derek is following the rules. "Lizzie points out that Casey should be glad you're doing it because now you can both move on from each other. Apparently, that resulted in a very long-winded rant that Lizzie didn't quite follow." Edwin takes a breath, "but apparently, Casey thinks that you're so well-behaved because you're planning something."

"I'm not."

"You're not?" Edwin confirms.

Frustrated, Derek rolls his eyes. " _I'm not_."

"I'll pass it along."

* * *

It stays like this for about a month. From Casey's mouth to Lizzie's ear, to Edwin's ear, to Derek's - Casey doesn't believe in Derek's innocence. They don't talk, though. There's a small exception where they do in class, and that's only because it's so tiny that he can't get away with always sitting silently. Even then, it's only about class materials. Sometimes, when she's particularly upset about a character in a reading, he thinks she might be directing it at him.

"You feel very strongly about this," Professor Adams says, sitting criss-cross on his desk.

"When someone behaves out of character," she says, shooting Derek a look, "it's natural for the audience to react negatively to it. It would be one thing if the character had a redemption arc or a gradual change but one day acting a certain way and the next, changing their entire being - how are we supposed to know what to expect?"

"I think you have a point," the blonde next to Derek nods. "I mean, there's the idea that we don't want a story to be predictable, but something is comforting in having some parts be a little predictable. The characters should act as they always have."

Casey's eyes are on Derek as she says, " _Exactly_."

* * *

Derek continues his pattern of good behavior, even going out of his way to avoid Casey. There's not a knife twisting in his stomach at the sight of her eyes telling him to follow the rules and Stay Away, so that's not the reason. It's just easier than trying to remember all the rules.

A month and a half into the first semester, Derek is surprised to find Casey on the other side of his dorm room door, her foot tapping angrily, her arms crossed. He tries to think about what rule he could possibly have broken (there are so many, he never did get around to reading the entire list), but nothing comes to mind. "Casey," he greets casually.

Casey tries to respond. It's almost comical the way her mouth opens and closes several times before she lets out a frustrated grunt.

"Right," he says, straightening. "As fun as..." he gestured at Casey in all her Caseyness ( _he didn't miss any of it_ ) "... this is, I've got things to do. Whatever you're mad at me for will have to wait, although I can't imagine what, seeing as I haven't broken a single rule-"

"That's just it!" Casey explodes. She takes a deep breath, lowering her voice, and repeating, "That's just it."

"What?"

"You haven't broken a single rule."

Derek blinks at her, confused. Casey has done a lot of things that most people wouldn't understand, and he usually catches on to her crazy way of thinking. This time, however, he's lost. "I- what?"

"You've followed all of the rules! You've kept your distance. When you see me, you don't acknowledge me. You haven't shown up at my dorm, there have been zero pranks."

"So. You're mad that I'm... following the rules?" Saying it out loud didn't make the whole thing make any more sense.

"Yes!" She says, throwing her hands up. "Well, no."

" _What_?" Derek shakes his head. He doesn't have time for this. Turning, he heads back into his room, ignoring the fact that Casey has followed in after him.

"Are you planning something? Lulling me into a false sense of security?"

Laughing, Derek starts shoving his things into his backpack. "No."

She stops. "You're... you're not?"

"Nope."

"Then, what are you doing?"

He pauses, turning to look back at Casey. "I'm following your rules. I'm not sure what's so hard to figure out about that?"

"Why?" She insists, angry again.

"I don't get why you're so mad about this. These were your rules. This is what you wanted. I sat in that car, and you went on and on about not wanting me around, and I listened. You don't get to be pissed that I followed your stupid list of rules." It was a typical Derek and Casey standoff. They were inches apart, he was breathing heavily, and there was that spark in her eye. "I don't even get why you're pissed."

" _Because you followed the rules_." Casey shoots back.

Exasperated, Derek runs his fingers through his hair. "You're crazy." He shakes his head. "I mean, I always knew it, but this confirms it. You're nuts. How does that even make sense?"

"In what world does Derek Venturi follow the rules? I thought you'd break them after the third day, at the latest!" She shifts away from him, pacing his room. "Tell Derek Venturi _not_ to do something, and he'll do the opposite. If there was one thing a person could count on, it was that Derek Venturi was not going to follow the rules." So maybe he wasn't imaging that conversation in English class being about him.

It's then that Derek finally understands.


	2. Chapter 2

On the first day of the second term, Derek walks into his economics class and is delighted to see the back of Casey's head. Predictable as ever, she's seated in the center of the front row, carefully taking out her notebook and pens. His urge to go unnoticed by the professor is trumped by Derek's urge to get under Casey's skin, so he lopes down the aisle and slides into the empty seat to her left. "Hey," he says, leaning over. Casey jumps, and he grins. "Can I borrow a pen?"

"Derek," she hisses, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, how can you come to class so unprepared." She shakes her head at him, but pulls a pen out of her bag and passes it over. When he doesn't move away, she arches a brow at him. "I thought you wouldn't be caught dead sitting in the front row."

He shrugs. "How else am I going to copy your notes?"

"Der _ ek _ !" So this semester is already going better than the last.

This, more or less, repeats itself a couple hours later when Derek learns they are also sharing Philosophy 101.

* * *

The next day, he spots Casey in the dining hall. She's sitting with a pretty blonde and rolls her eyes when he approaches. "What?"

"Can't I have lunch with my favorite person?" Derek asks, innocently. He drops into a seat before she can protest.

She doesn't miss a beat. "Marti isn't here," and she returns to her lunch.

"My mistake. I saw the pouty face and dark hair; how could I not mistake you for Marti?"

Casey makes a face at him, and off they go. It's not until several minutes go by and the blonde laughs at them that Derek remembers he'd intended on flirting with her, getting her name and number. "You're like an old married couple." She laughed harder as Derek choked on his tea, and Casey threw a napkin at her. "What? It's adorable."

"Adorable?" That was a phrase that had never been applied to their bickering before. At least, not as far as Derek knew.

Casey ignores the blonde's nodding head. "Don't you have friends to go sit with."

"I have friends, yes. None that are around, incidentally. Hence my slumming it with you." He grins when he sees the corners of Casey's lips quirk up. As annoyed as she looked right now, Derek knew that she was pleased with every broken rule in the past two days.

* * *

Two days later, he shows up at her dorm room. It would have been sooner, but it took all that time just for Derek to find out where she was staying. She blinks when she sees him standing on the other side of the door, and he takes advantage of her surprise to shoulder his way into the room.

It's his turn to be surprised when there's a group of girls huddled on Casey's bed, and a few more scattered around the room.

"Derek," she says, terse. "I thought I told you not to come by here." Their game has always been twisted, so even though she basically told him to break every rule put in place, she's got to stick to the script. It was in Casey's character to create rules just as it was in his nature to break them.

He shrugs. "You know I don't listen to you when you talk." His eyes roam around the room, and they land on a pretty redhead. He winks, and she blushes, smiling back at him.

"I'm kind of busy right now; do you need something?" There's a hint of genuine annoyance in her voice rather than the playful one he's used to. His gaze reverts back to Casey.

"Yeah, I need your notes from philosophy."

"You're joking." He shrugs. Derek doesn't actually need her notes, but he had to have an excuse to see her. It won't hurt to have hers, though, because they're bound to be better than his. "You were there; I'm not giving you my notes. I'll probably never get them back."

His gaze wanders around the room. "That's okay; I can copy them here." He flashes a smile at the redhead again.

Sighing, Casey rummages around in her backpack and shoves a notebook into his chest. He takes the notes, brushing his hand against hers. The sensation he feels as they graze hands is definitely pure disgust. "Get them back to me," she threatens.

"Of course," he agrees. "Ladies," he says to the gathered group who are all watching their exchange with varying degrees of interest.

"Bye," the redhead waves. He winks at her again just before Casey shoves him for the door.

"Honestly, Case, a person might get the idea that you don't want me around," he says as the door slams in his face.

* * *

Derek goes to her dorm again the next day. When she opens the door, Casey takes one look at him and promptly shuts it. Grinning a little, Derek leans on the wall next to the door.

Three...

Two...

One...

The door opens again, and Casey stands there with her arms crossed in front of her chest. Anyone else might think she's mad, but there's a slight crinkle to her eye betraying her mirth. " _ What _ ?"

"Are you busy?"

She blinks, then eyes him suspiciously. "No."

"Good. Let's go." He straightens up, grinning at her.

"Go... where?" In reply, Derek shrugs and tugs on her arm. "Der _ ek _ ! I don't even have shoes."

"Two minutes."

"But--"

"Two minutes and fifty-nine seconds," he lifts his wrist to look at her watch. She starts to say something else, and he continues to count until she slams the door again. With twenty-one seconds remaining, the door opens, and Casey steps out in a huff.

Derek brightens at the sight of her. "Right. Let's go." He takes off.

"Where are we going?" Derek ignores her, continuing on. He can hear Casey treading along behind him.

They end up at a small get together. It's a party, but not like the one Casey would expect him at. Most of the hockey team is there, including their coach and his wife, which is why it's not quite a Party. It's neat, though, because a lot of the members have brought a friend (most of them brought a girlfriend or boyfriend), there's some music playing, and Coach is grilling in the back yard.

"You brought me to a party?" Casey asks, glancing around. It was relatively tame, but she looks wary.

Derek shrugs. "A barbecue, really. Coach wants us to bond outside of practice." Casey looks at him with an expression he's not quite able to read, but she doesn't seem upset, so he takes her around to introduce her to his friends. According to Casey's rules, they're not supposed to spend any time together, she wants nothing to do with his friends or the hockey team, and she doesn't want him getting to know her friends.

He watches as she chats animatedly with the goalie, Mack, and his girlfriend, Angela. Despite another rule broken, Casey doesn't look too upset.

* * *

Things continue in this way, and soon enough, they're home for the summer break. Summer, too, has its own set of rules. Some of the rules come from their parents as they try adjusting to the change that comes with coming home after two semesters of college. Derek and Casey have found a bit of independence living away from home, and to be back under their parent's roof as if they were in high school again is strange. They wind up with a bit of compromise. There's a time that his dad and Nora would like for them to be home; any later than that, then please be quiet and try and give their parents an update on when they'll be home when possible.

Casey gives him rules, too. Mostly about how they're not going to spend time together over the summer, how he's not to prank her or touch any of her things, and how she will not be helping him get registered in time to get the classes he wants.

Naturally, Derek breaks all of those rules. The rules his dad lays out are followed, more or less, though he does toe the line.

* * *

On the way back to Queen's for their second year, Casey once again starts in on the rules for the semester. Exasperated, Derek clutches the steering wheel. "Casey, I already know the rules. Can we not, please?" It's a long drive, and though he knows that most of her rules are for show, he'd prefer not to go through the whole thing again.

"But these rules are different, Derek," Casey insists. He groans a little, tuning her out as she starts in on the things Derek isn't allowed to do this year.

It's about a minute later when he catches, "... or kissing me. Not allowed."

"Wait. What?"

Casey huffs, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. "Were you even listening."

"No."

"Honestly, Case, I don't know why you're surprised." He flexes his fingers on the steering wheel, mind going. Had he  _ imagined _ that?

She shrugs. "I don't know why I bother, but you missed the most important one."

"What's that?" He asks, pulling into a parking space in front of her dorm building. His mouth feels dry.

"I said you're not allowed to touch me for anything; no teasing hair pull, slinging your arm around my shoulders, nudging me with your shoulder, or kissing me."

"Kissing you?" If Derek were to be a hundred percent honest, he's imagined kissing Casey before. Usually, the thought rose unbidden during the height of one of their more intense verbal spar sessions. He liked to pretend it didn't happen, though, that the thought never occurred.

Of course, now that Casey had spoken the idea out  _ into the world _ , it was all Derek could think about.

"It's just an example, Der," Casey says. She reaches for the door handle, and Derek tugs on her elbow. She sits back, staring at him. He opens his mouth, then closes it.

Trying again, Derek licks his lips and opens his mouth to speak. Words fail him. His mouth closes. The smile on Casey's face shifts to something a little more forced.

He thinks about last year when she listed all the rules with the expectation that setting them would result in him breaking them. This can't possibly be the same thing. It was a test of sorts; it had to be.

The corners of Casey's eyes tighten. "It was just an example in a very long list," she says. Her voice sounds strange, but Derek recognizes the inflection. She's trying not to cry.

He leans in, pressing his lips to hers in a warm kiss. It lasts for only a second. Pulling back just far enough that his eyes can focus on hers, Derek's mind whirls. Had he really just done that. "School hasn't even started," Casey says, sounding breathless, "and you've already broken that rule."

At that moment, Derek decides he wants to hear Casey's voice like  _ that _ toward  _ him _ far more often. He leans in and kisses her again, this time a little more urgent. It's still a bit hesitant until he feels Casey's lips part, and she's kissing him back. Then his hands are tangled in her hair, and she's just made a small noise in the back of her throat.

Derek's never enjoyed breaking a rule more than that one. "You wanted me to," he argues when they break apart, both trying to catch their breath.

Casey grins. "If there's any way to get Derek Venturi to do something, it's to tell him he can't."

"That one was implied long before this trip."

She shrugs, kissing him once more. Her voice was soft as she said, "Yeah, but I figure if  _ I _ made it a rule, you might figure out that I was okay with it happening."

"It took me a minute," he admits in a low voice.

"I noticed." She exhales. "I thought you didn't want to kiss me."

Derek barks out a laugh. "I've wanted to kiss you since we were fifteen." He leans in for another kiss, but they jump apart at the sound of a honk from behind them. Right. Moving in. There was time for more kissing. Later.

Laughing, Casey climbs from the car, and he moves to help her get her stuff. "There will be rules, you know," she says mildly.

"Of course," he offers her a long-suffering sigh.

"The kind that you actually need to follow," she says stern.

This he had already expected. He figured it would mostly be stuff like making sure he wasn't dating around and such, but that was fine. He didn't want anyone else. "Casey, haven't you figured it out already, I'll follow rules  _ for you _ ."

It's not quite the sweetest line in the book, but it's sincere and coming from Derek, it means a lot. Which explains the look on Casey's face as she pauses on their trek to her dorm. "Alright," she says.

"Alright," he agrees with a smile.


End file.
